Inflation unchanged at 6.46 per cent

New Delhi, Apr 01: The annual inflation rate for the week ended March 17 remained unchanged at the past two weeks' level of 6.46 per cent.

The annual inflation rate calculated on a point-to-point basis was 3.69 per cent during the corresponding week of the previous year.

Finance Minister P Chidambaram on Wednesday said the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) should take steps necessary to moderate inflation without affecting growth.

''There was no such thing as an acceptable level of inflation, but the generally accepted tolerance level for inflation was between 4 and 4.5 per cent,'' he said.

The Wholesale Price Index (WPI) for all commodities for the week ended March 10, rose by 0.05 per cent to 209.4 from 209.3 for the previous week.

The index for the Primary Articles group declined marginally to 214.2 from 214.3 for the previous week.

The index for Food Articles group declined by 0.2 per cent to 214.4 from 214.8 for the previous week due to lower prices of fruits and vegetables, wheat, arhar and barley (1 per cent each).

However, the prices of poultry chicken (4 per cent), bajra (3 per cent) and masur, fish-marine and jowar (1 per cent each) moved up.

The index for Non-Food articles group rose by 0.3 per cent to 197.5 from 197.0 for the previous week due to higher prices of niger seed (13 per cent), raw cotton (3 per cent), rape and mustard seed (2 per cent) and castor seed, cotton seed and linseed (1 per cent each).

However, the prices of raw rubber (7 per cent), tobacco (3 per cent), groundnut seed and raw silk (1 per cent each) declined.

The index for Minerals group rose by 0.4 per cent to 418.4 from 416.8 for the previous week due to higher prices of ochre (33 per cent), flourite (32 per cent), magnesite (22 per cent), steatite (14 per cent) and asbestos (1 per cent).

However, the prices of barytes (9 per cent), fire clay and vermiculite (3 per cent each) and phosphorite (1 per cent) declined.

The index for Fuel, Power, Light and Lubricants remained unchanged at its previous week's level of 319.5. The index for Manufactured Products group rose by 0.1 per cent to 183.2 from 183.0 for the previous week. The index for Food Products group rose by 0.8 per cent to 186.1 from 184.7 for the previous week due to higher prices of oil cakes (5 per cent), rice bran oil (3 per cent), cotton seed oil (2 per cent) and gur and imported edible oil (1 per cent each).

The index for Textiles group declined by 0.1 per cent to 132.8 from 132.9 for the previous week due to lower prices of polyster staple fibre (2 per cent).

However, the prices of texturised yarn (1 per cent) moved up.

The index for Wood and Wood Products rose by 0.4 per cent to 215.9 from 215.1 for the previous week due to higher prices of cement (1 per cent).

The index for Non-Metallic Mineral Products group rose by 0.4 per cent to 202.6 from 201.7 for the previous week due to higher prices of cement (1 per cent).

The index for Basic Metal Alloys and Metal Products group rose by 0.1 per cent to 241.9 from 241.6 for the previous week due to higher prices of wire (all kinds), other iron steel, foundary pig iron, basic pig iron, lead ingots and ms bars and rounds (1 per cent each).

However, the prices of zinc (5 per cent) and zinc ingots (1 per cent) declined.

The index for Machinery and Machine Tools group declined by 0.2 per cent to 161.8 from 162.2 for the previous week due to lower prices of material handling equipment (18 per cent).

UNI